Hi! 

 I was wondering if using the translate dials on the "BODY" of a figure to move it around (V4 and M4 in this case) can cause any problems? I swore I once read to avoid doing this, and only translate the hip.

 The problem is I've created a complex animation with the figures grounded, but now I need them to be raised up on a piece of furniture. Not just for me, but I'm also distributing this animation.

 I can not do this via the hip actor because the translate dials are animated, so it's not a simple thing of just changing the first keyframe. Unless there's a script to change the translate on the hip by a set amount for every keyframe, I think my best bet would be using the "BODY" translates.

 I did it and tested it in both Poser and DAZ and don't see any problems, but I'm asking just in case.

 Thanks a lot!

You don't see any problems because that is the correct way to do it.

What you think you read is the opposite of what you read. The correct way to position the figure in the scene is to move the body. The correct way to animate a movement, such as dancing in place, is with the hip, not the body.

The hip should bend and move within context of the gesture you're animating, regardless of where the figure needs to be in the scene. Then the end user can move the figure to the right room or whatever without disturbing the dance or punch or other animation.

You're all set.

 Ah great, thank you for the quick reply!

In versions of Poser prior to 6 (I think) saving a pose did not save the Body actor, so if you made an ainmated pose by moving Body you only got part of it saved. Now in P7 and up you have the option of saving Poses with the body actor.

What you did is correct.

Versions Prior to P7 did not save pose data for the Body, and that is still the default in later versions.

My rule of thumb, when constructing and saving poses is:

Start with the Body zeroed. Set the yTran of the hip so that the feet (or what ever) are on the floor. NEVER use the x or z tran of the hip.

Here are the reasons for doing it that way. If you save x-z translations of the hip to a pose:

a). Applying the pose will make the figure move to a different location in the scene.

b). Will cause the figure to orbit the Body, instead of spining in place when the Body's yRotate is used.

When setting up a scene, I set the figures location in the scene by translating the Body to the appropriate place. When I apply a pose I don't want the figure to jump to a different location, as would happen if hip x-z translations were included in the pose. I want to be able to use the pose no matter where the figure is located, without the pose moving it to a different place. On the other hand, if the pose has the figure sitting in a chair I do want the pose to move the hip to the appropriate altitude. So the pose should move the hip to the correct altitude.

So, when saving a pose, hip x and z tran should be zero, and hip yTran should place the feet on the floor (when the Body is zeroed).

The above is a rule of thumb, not a law of nature. You may encounter special circumstances where it is desirable to break the rule, but make sure you have a good reason for doing so, and understand the consequences. For instance, you may have a two poses where you want the feet to be in exactly the same location in each pose but want the hip swung out slightly to a diffrent side in each pose. Animated poses and BVH are also something of a special case, and it can be acceptable to translate the hip.

 While versions earlier than 7 won't save the "BODY" pose data, will it be able to load it?

 For example, for my animation I wrote this into the .pz2:

actor BODY
    {
    channels
        {
        translateX xtran
            {
            keys
                {
                k 0 0.05751
                }
            }
        translateY ytran
            {
            keys
                {
                k 0 0.2251
                }
            }
        translateZ ztran
            {
            keys
                {
                k 0 0.06518
                }
            }
        }
    }

  Will that work in earlier versions? Thanks!

Yes, if the data is in the Pose file then it will load.

Quote - While versions earlier than 7 won't save the "BODY" pose data, will it be able to load it?

Yes, any version of Poser will use pose data for the BODY if it finds it in the pose file.

I made a python that will copy the all body moves back to the hip... sometimes I get tunnel vision while animating and start moving the body. Next thing I have a mess.

This script was written to save my tail on  those days. If anybody's intrested let me know and I'll post it someplace.